Ariel, iZotope sponsored this one. Can you tell us, did you use any iZotope plug-ins in this one and why were they a brand you were interested in working with?

Ariel: I did. I use quite a bit on all of my mixes. I use the Ozone 7. Actually, on this one, Ozone 6, but I used the Exciter quite a bit on my master chain. It’s always been my go-to.

Alloy has been just one of my favorite plug-ins for about two or three years now. I use it quite a bit for the multi-band exciter and the multi-band transient designer, but the transient designer, I think it’s one of the only ones on the market with multi-band transients, so I think that’s what makes it one of the strongest ones.

Justin: I think on this particular track, I think you had it on your piano track. What were you looking for it to do on your piano track? Ariel: I was just looking for it to hit a little bit more, and the fact that without going into an EQ, I can sort of find the frequency to pull out the hits, which is what makes it strong.

Justin: And Ozone 5, 6, and now 7, they’ve been part of your master buss chain, what are you looking for them to do on a mix? Ariel: Harmonics. Harmonics. I definitely — I do, not on this particular mix, but I use the stereo enhancer on the Ozone quite a bit as well.

Justin: Have you ever used other busses or pretty much just sit on the master?

Ariel: On this particular mix, I believe I used the exciter on the drums. I also used quite a bit to Trash — I didn’t use it on this mix, but I use Trash quite a bit, just because of the multi-band excitement that I use quite a bit for distortion.

Justin: Trash is really fun one. Unlike anything else.
Ariel: Yeah, but I used it subtly, and it makes a huge difference.

Justin: But you do a lot of parallel stuff. Is that the kind of thing where you Trash it up parallel then just sneak some in? Ariel: Not the full thing, but on each band I do parallel quite a bit.

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Justin: Yeah, I noticed that. Even on the Ozone, you had — you were doing parallel compression, then it was just at 30% of that.

Ariel: Yeah, always, always.

Justin: Well if you want people to have one key takeaway from your panel today, what do you think it would be? Ariel: Education and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Yeah.

Justin: So learn. One of the best ways to learn is from others, and the other best way to learn is by screwing up?

Ariel: Of course! I mean, that’s your only way you learn, right? You have to fall flat on your face, and then you pick yourself up and move forward.

Justin: Well, Ariel, thanks again for being a part of MixCon. It’s great to have you, and I like forward to maybe doing one of these again some day. Thanks Ariel, have a good one.

Ariel: This is the one thing I do use on quite a bit of my mixes. It’s — I don’t know, you can call it cheating, but it’s amazing. I use it on stereo. It’s a harmonic exciter, I use it across the whole mix, and this is what it sounds like.